Some of the residents of Pineview Road in West Nyack stand at the private railroad crossing that is the only way into their neighborhood. The freight rail line CSX wants to shut the crossing, the site of four accidents since 2010. But the closure would leave the dozen Pineview families with no way in or out. Pictured from right: Jean Buzzell, Diane Fitzsimons, Bart Fitzsimons, Lou Bimbo, Andy Valdez, Susanne Madden, Vinny Buzzell, and Joe Buzzell.(Photo: Peter D. Kramer/The Journal News)Buy Photo

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Pineview Road, just south of the Palisades Center Mall, is a Rockland throwback, a private gravel road lined by soaring pines where a dozen families live. The only way into the neighborhood is from Western Highway, up a private road and over a private railroad crossing that has no flashing lights and no gates. There have been four accidents here in the past 8 years, including one in which a car-carrier was struck by a CSX train, driven down the track and burst into flames, its driver thrown free. CSX wants to close the crossing permanently, which has Pineview Road residents wondering how they’ll get home.

Five things to know

THE RESIDENTS: This is no gated community. It’s a private street that was once home to summer bungalows. Residents, some of whom have been here more than 60 years, include a musician, a county office worker, a retired bus driver and Nyack pastry chef Didier Dumas.

CSX: The powerful rail company whose long freight trains rumble through Rockland has let it be known (though, Hoehmann says, not through official channels) that it wants to close the crossing, citing “the safety of the neighboring community.”

CLARKSTOWN SUPERVISOR GEORGE HOEHMANN: While he insists the town has no official role in the closure, because Pineview is not officially a town road, the supervisor called a May meeting with stakeholders from the federal, state and local level, including residents. He has his planners looking into alternative routes into Pineview.

JOHN MAGEE: The high-profile developer, who owns the road that intersects with Western Highway and crosses the rail line, also owns the massive property between Pineview and his Bradley Corporate Park. Hoehmann says Magee is open to being part of the solution — possibly giving access to Bradley and Route 303 — if the town goes to bat for him in some wetlands issues.

TIMELINE: There is no projected timeline for the closure of the crossing.

In their words

Living in Pineview can mean waiting, sometimes for hours, for stopped trains at the crossing. Four years ago, there was a stopped train between Susanne Madden and her father's funeral. After waiting for the train to move, and calling CSX to explain that she was now late for her father's funeral, Madden did what she had to do.

"I crawled under the stopped train (to get) to the funeral, which they had held up because I wasn't there